With the influx of new members that we've had recently, I think now is a good time to repost the board guidelines.

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Welcome to VolNation! We are pleased that you have chosen to be part of our community. Our goal is to provide a free message board for Tennessee fans (and fans of other schools who are respectful) to engage in discussion with other fans. A few basic guidelines are necessary to maintain some sense of order and we depend on you, our members, to help us enforce these guidelines by using the "Report Post" button, located just under each user's avatar.

1. Look both ways before posting. Please take a moment to scan the first page of the forum to see if a similar discussion exists before starting a new thread. Also, please don't start a new thread for every thought that pops into your head.

2. What to do if you have a post or thread removed. First, click the "my posts" button in the orange navbar at the top of the forum to make sure your post wasn't moved or merged with a similar topic. If you cannot locate it, don't feel your post violated any of our guidelines and cannot determine why it was removed, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss it with you. DO NOT continue to post asking why your post was removed.

3. Personal Attacks add nothing to the board. Healthy debate is expected and encouraged, but take the childish insults elsewhere. My philosophy has always been to attack the post and not the poster. Posts such as "your an idiot" don't add to the discussion. With varying opinions and viewpoints, most everyone will view some posts as idiotic. We have two great features to make your experience here more enjoyable:'Ignore thread' and 'Ignore user'. USE THEM.

4. Respect the coaches Some of you may dislike current coaches or certain former coaches. It happens with each and every coaching staff and it's completely understandable. While legitimate criticism is always allowed, baseless bashing and the use of demeaning nicknames such as "Fat Phil" are not necessary and don't add to the discussion.

5. Respect the players Fans often get upset with players for their performance on the field or other issues that may affect their contributions. It's certainly allowable to criticize players for their play, but personal attacks, name calling, etc. of Tennessee players is frowned upon.

6. Profanity. Let's keep it clean and classy. We have women and some younger members and I think we can be creative enough in our adjectives while still keeping it clean. "F-Bombs", sexual slang, and racist language will absolutely not be tolerated under any circumstances. It's also not acceptable to post variants of censored words in order to bypass the rules. For instance, the * symbol to replace one letter of an F-Bomb is not acceptable.

7. Trolls. Fans of other teams can add a unique perspective are always welcome here. However, keep in mind that this is a Tennessee board and those who support other schools should be respectful of the Tennessee program and fans. Fans of other programs who join with the purpose of mocking Tennessee will be banned.

8. PG. No Offensive content/Porn is allowed under any circumstances. Anything posted should be "work safe" and appropriate for all ages. Avatars and signatures should be in good taste. If you are unsure if something is acceptable, then it's probably not.

9. No Spamming. Please don't post links to your site or your buddies site without prior approval of the board administration. Links to commercial news sites are always acceptable, but spamming links or plugs/references to personal sites, personal/individual UT fan blogs, other Tennessee message boards, personal twitter/facebook, etc. is typically not allowed. Otherwise, we end up with a board full of spammy links every time someone posts a new blog, tweet, or status update.

10. No copying/pasting of content (full articles or works) from other sites. You may post a few sentences or a summary in your own words. I consider that to be fair use.

11. Report Posts. If you have a problem with content from another poster, then report it. We don't catch everything. We believe in freedom of speech, but do it with some class. Just because you may see another post that breaks board rules, that doesn't justify another rules violation. The report post button is located under each user's avatar in every post.

12. Off Topic. The Vol forums are only for topics relating to UT. There are other forums for other topics. If you are unsure where to post a topic then it should go in the Pub.

13. Stalking. Please don't stalk other posters by repeatedly responding to his/her posts for the sole purpose of ridiculing, mocking, insulting, or flaming. For those with the urge to stalk others, the ignore user feature may be helpful. Also, please refrain from creating threads to "call out" other posters.

14. Rumors. For the most part, rumors are part of what makes message boards entertaining. However, please post them responsibly. Refrain from posting any unsubstantiated rumors that could be harmful to Tennessee, its coaches or players.

15. Public criticism of moderators or the board is not allowed. If you have a problem with any of these rules, one of our moderators, or anything regarding how we choose to run this forum feel free to contact us. I will be happy to listen to your side and have a rational discussion. I'm not very tolerant of someone publicly calling out our moderators or the way we enforce the rules. It's a thankless job and our moderators volunteer their time. In addition, the forum is not a place to discuss banned members or post your opinion of the guidelines we've chosen.

16. Multiple accounts/alters. Please don't sign up for multiple accounts. In the event you need to have multiple accounts for some reason or your account has been flagged erroneously, please let us know.

17. Don't contact recruits. "Volnation has no affiliation with University of Tennessee Athletics. Tennessee Athletics advises that fans should not seek to solicit or maintain direct contact with potential student-athletes through social media outlets or other forums. Tennessee Athletics is committed to fostering awareness of and compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and endeavors to contact potential student-athletes only through rules and regulations adopted by the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee Athletics thanks its valued fans for their attention and continued support."

18. Don't ask for money. Please don't ask for donations for your "cause" without prior approval from board administration. To be considered, a link to an accredited institution, where donations can be made directly, must be provided. A PayPal address is typically not an acceptable means of collection under most circumstances.